1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for the detection of dyslexia, and more particularly to such systems and methods incorporated in existing handwriting pattern recognition systems
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that hinders the learning of literacy skills. Its etymology is based on the Greek: `difficulty with words`. It affects millions of people worldwide.
Dyslexia affects reading, spelling, writing, memory and concentration, and sometimes math, music, foreign languages and self-organization It is apparently neurologically based and tends to run in families. Other symbolic systems, such as mathematics and musical notation, can also be affected. However, there is controversy as to the exact definition of the syndrome of dyslexia and from contradictory theories that surround its etiology.
There seems to be a consensus as to the need for early detection and treatment. The symptoms can be difficult to detect, however, especially at an early age. In pre-schoolers these symptoms may include the following.sup.1 : THE DYSLEXIA INSTITUTE http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk
Later than expected learning to speak clearly.
Jumbles phrases, e.g. `cobbler's club` for `toddler's club`,`teddy-dare` for `teddybear`.
Quick `thinker` and `do-er`.
Use of substitute words or `near misses`.
Mislabeling e.g. lampshade for lamp post.
A lisp--`duckth` for `ducks`.
Inability to remember the label for known objects, e.g. colours.
Confused directional words, e.g. `up/down` or `in/out`.
Excessive tripping, bumping and falling over nothing.
Enhanced creativity--often good at drawing--good sense of colour.
Obvious `good` and `bad` days for no apparent reason.
Aptitude for constructional or technical toys, e.g. bricks, puzzles, lego blocks, control box for TV and video, computer keyboards.
Enjoys being read to but shows no interest in letters or words.
Difficulty learning nursery rhymes.
Finds difficulty with rhyming words, e.g. `cat mat fat`.
Finds difficulty with odd-one-out, e.g. `cat mat pig fat`.
Did not crawl--was a `bottom shuffler`.
Difficulty with `sequence`. e.g. coloured bead sequence.
Attempts to diagnose dyslexia generally fall into one of two categories: (1) generalized behavioral diagnoses, as in the list above, and (2) physiological tests involving detection of psychological and/or neurophysiological symptoms such as abnormal EEG or evoked potential and/or erratic eye movements.
Many of the patents in this area are of the latter type. U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,422, for instance, takes this approach, as do many others.
The current invention, on the other hand, is based on the well-known tendencies of dyslexics to perceive characters in unique ways, both in the perception of the characters, and in attempts to reproduce those characters by drawing the characters as they see them. Among these typical dyslexic misperceptions is the tendency to produce mirror images of characters.
This invention is implemented by means of the various handwriting recognition systems which are well developed and in wide use at the present time. These systems all have one characteristic in common: they compare a person's handwriting, character by character, to a library of acceptable or model characters, and reject those characters which do not conform to any recognized character model in the library.
The present invention expands this technique to include not only recognizable legitimate characters, but also illegitimate characters, such as the mirror images of legitimate characters. When the user of one of these handwriting recognition systems generates a significant number of these distorted characters, the invention records these in the memory associated with the handwriting recognition system, and creates a statistical profile of the errors, creating a warning that the user may be displaying characteristics associated with dyslexia.
This invention has the great advantage that it does not require any advances in the basic technology in handwriting analysis: it merely requires the expansion of the available character sets to include the models of distorted characters typically generated by dyslexics.
The current invention can be incorporated into simple word games currently available on computer and INTERNET systems for young children of pre-school and early school age, thus providing the early warning so urgently needed.